Process for manufacturing tie-plates.



. E. :1. BELL. PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING TIE PLATES.

APPLIOATI'OR TILED MAR 29, 191

Patented Aug. 11,1914

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E; H. BELL.

PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING TI ATES.

APPLIOATION IILED MAR. 29,

1y 1 ,77 'Patnted 11, 1914.

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I 5/11/1771! 56216 7 n w 5/ Q E. H. BELL. PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING TIE PLATES.

APPLICATION TILED MAR. 2-9, 1913.

Patented Aug. 11, 1914-.

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THE NORRIS PETEks c0. PHOTOLVTHO.. WASHINGTON D c.

E. H. BELL.

PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING IIE PLATES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1913.

1,106,770. Patented Au fn, 1914,

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| I v 5 r- I invirnn sra'rns FAIENI onisioa EDWIN H. BELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING TIE-PLATES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN H. BELL, a. citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Process for Manufacturing Tie-Plates; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improved process for the manufacture of tie-plates of rolled metal.

The object of the invention is to provide;

The eneral rocess of rollin tie-alates; t) P b l from a billet of metal is familiar and consists generally in passing a bar of metal between successive pairs of rolls provided wlth the necessary grooves and ribs to form the top and bottom surfaces of the tie-plate as desired. In patents heretofore granted to me, that is to say, Letters Patent No. 87 9,238, dated February 18, 1908, and No. 938,109, dated October 26, 1909, processes for rolling said tie-plates with rail abutting shoulders at one side of the rail base have been fully described.

In rolling tie-plate-blanks in a continnous strip they are sometimes rolled so that the tie-plate-blanks are arranged in the strip constituting the plurality of blanks in the direction of their length, that is to say,

end to end, and with the rail abutting shoul- 1 ders of the successive blanks extending transversely of the strip. In another way of rolling them the blanks are arranged in the continuous strip side by side, that is to say, with the side of each blank joined to the side of the next succeeding blank in the strip, in which case the rail abutting shoulders of the successive blanks extend as a single rib longitudinally of the strip.

My improved process is applicable for use Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 29, 1913.

Patented Aug. 11, 191d.

Serial No. 757,559.

in connection with either way of rolling tie plate blanks and is also applicable whether the blanks are corrugated to provide rail supporting seats on their top surfaces and ribs or flanges on their bottom surface, or whether both or either top or bottom surfaces are plane.

In order to illustrate my improved process I attach hereto drawings, in which Figure 1 illustrates an end view of a billet of metal from which the tie-plate blanks are to be rolled. Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the adjacent parts of the peripheries of a pair of rolls between which the billet is first passed, the billet itself being shown in cross-section, where the tie-plate blanks are arranged end to end and extend longitudinally of the strip. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a pair of rolls between which the billet is subsequently passed. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the billet after having been passed between several pairs of rolls. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the billet in a later period of treatment. Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the billet prior to having passed through the last pair of rolls. Fig. 7 is a view in elevation of the last pair of rolls which complete the rollingprocess of forming the blank, which itself is shown in cross-section. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the blank form into which the billet has been converted showing the adjacent parts of the last pair of rolls in section, said section being taken in a plane indicated by the line 8-8 of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the blank strip as it comes from the last pair of rolls. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of one form of the finished tie-plate, after the process has been completed and after it has been severed from the blank strip. Fig. 11 is a top plan view of the plate, shown in perspective in Fig. 10, illustrating the position of the rail abutting shoulders with respect to the rail base. Fig. 12 is a detail sectional view through the raised lug from which the additional rail abutting shoulder is formed before the plate has been finished, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 12- 12 of Fig. 9. Fig. 13 is a like sectional View showing the lug as it appears when the plate is finished with a rail seated on the tie-plate, having the lateral edge of its base against the rail abutting shoulder formed from the lug. Fig. 14 is a partial elevational view of the last pair of rolls for forming a tie-plate,

1' 5 -are arranged opposite the ribs on the roll 16 in such manner that the metal displaced where the blanks are arranged side by side and extend transversely of the strip. Fig. 15 is a top plan view of the tie-plate blank strip after having passed through the rolls illustrated in F 14:. Fig. 16 is a plan view of a finished tie-plate formed from the strip illustrated in Fig. 15, the position of the rail base being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 17 is a transverse sectional view of the tie-plate shown in Fig. 16, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 1717 in Fig. 16. Fig. 18 is a top plan view of a tieplate similar to that shown in Fig. 16, except that two lugs are provided on the top surface of the rail to form the additional rail abutting shoulder. Fig. 19 is a perspective view of a tie-plate somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 10, there being in this case also two lugs formed to provide the additional rail abutting shoulder.

As shown in the drawings, Fig. 1 represents the cross-sectional form of a metal. billet 5 which is to be rolled into a strip comprising a plurality of tie-plate blanks; Referring now particularly to Figs. 2 to 13,

6 and 7 indicate a pair of rolls between which the billet is passed, the roll 6 having two circumferential ribs 8, 8 on its periphcry, while the roll 7 has three such ribs, 9,

'9, 9, on its periphery. The cooperating ribsI of the rolls serve to impart to the billet a 'crosssectional form such as shown in Fig. 2. Said rolls 6 and 7 are provided with peripheral flanges 10 and 11, respectively, which} cooperate to prevent the billet from spreadl ing laterally as the same passes between the rolls. r A second pair of rolls 15 and 16 is employed to impart to the billet 5 a cross-sectional form such as shown in Fig. 3, the roll 15 having the three circumferential groovesl 17, 17, 17 011 its periphery, while the roll 16 i has three circumferential ribs 18, 18, 18 oni its periphery. The grooves on the roll 15 by the said ribs is pressed into the groovesl of the roll 15.

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 the billet is shown as it 5 appears in cross-section after having passed between successive pairs of rolls, each suc-i ceeding pair being arranged nearer together, in order that the billet may be gradually: flattened. The peripheries of the successive pairs of rolls are of such shape as to grad-j ually impart to the billet longitudinal; grooves on one surface and longitudinali alining flanges on its other surface, the said flanges being in line with the said grooves.

The final form is imparted to the billet 5 by means of the rolls 20, 21, illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8. The upper one of the said rolls designated by the reference numeralj 20 is provided 011 its periphery with par-E allel circumferential ribs 22, 22, which are upper roll 20, the same being located at circumferential distances apart equal to the length of the finished tie-plates. Said grooves each'consist of concave recesses 23 which are connected with each other by shallower parts of the grooves between them.

The grooves so made form on the rolled plate a continuous transverse rib 24 (see Figs. 9, 10 and 11) having rounded projections 25, 26, 27, which are separated by depressions'or notches 28, 28 formed by the shallower parts of the transverse groove in the roll. The metal which forms said transverse rib, as a whole, is obtained in the rolling operation by displacement endwise of the metal of the blank. There is also formed on the periphery of the upper roll 20 a plurality of circumferentially spaced recesses 29, there being, as shown, one of said grooves or recesses intermediate each pair of transverse grooves comprised by the recesses 23. Said recesses 29 act in the final rolling of the blank strip to form a lug 30 on each tie-plate blank, which lugpreferably extends in the direction of the length of the tie-plate. Said lug is so placed with refer ence to the main rail-abutting shoulder constituted by the transverse rib 24, that the 3 distance from said rail abutting shoulder to the proximate end of said lug will be less than the width of the narrowest rail base that the tie-plates are designed for use with, while the remote end of said lug will be at a greater distance from said rib than the width of the widest rail base.

After the blank strip is finished it is sheared to out it into the, plurality of tieplate blanks which compose it and is preferably at the same time punched to provide the spike holes 31, 32, 32. In the operation of punching the spike holes an additional hole 33 in punched through the lug 30 in such manner as to cut through the metal at the inner end of the lug, that is to say, the end nearer to the main rail abutting shoulder, and entirely remove or obliterate the inner end part of said lug, leaving the outer end part of said lug intact. The part left, indicated at 34:, in Fig. 10, presents an upright shoulder which constitutes an additional rail abutting shoulder adapted for engagement with the lateral edge of the rail base opposite the main rail abutting shoul der. It will be apparent that by this process of forming the additional rail abutting shoulder there may be made on the same rolls tie-plates which, by the'simple'operation of punching, may be adapted to fit rails having different widths of rail base. The only loss of metal that is occasioned in the carrying out of the process is that small amount which is punched from the plate in cutting the lug so as to produce the proper gage distance between the shoulder presented by it and the main rail abutting shoulder.

In Figs. 14 to 17, inclusive, I have shown the application of my process in the case of tie-plates where the rail abutting shoulder and the grooves in the top surface of the plateextend transversely of the plate, that is to say, in the direction of the length of the rolled strip. In the particular instance illustrated, the tie-plate has a fiat bottom. In Fig. 14, and 36 indicate the pair of rolls which give final form to the tie-plate blank strip. The lower roll 36 has a flat surface 37 for forming the bottom of the tie-plate, while the upper roll has a plurality of circumferentially extending grooves 38 and of ribs 39, there being a deeper groove 38* for forming the rail-abutting shoulder.

A recess 40 is formed opposite the groove 38*, there being a plurality of such recesses (not shown) spaced apart circumferential distances equal to the width of the proposed tie-plates. These recesses act to form in the tie-plate blank the lugs 41 shown in Fig. 15, which, as before, extend in a direction substantially at right angles to the rail abutting shoulder and are placed at a distance therefrom, so that the end of said lug nearer the rail abutting shoulder is less than the narrowest rail base that the tie-plates are in tended for, while the farther end of said lug is at a greater distance from said rail abutting shoulder than the widest rail base that the tie-plates are intended for. In this case, as before, when the tie-plates are sheared and punched to provide the spike holes, 42, 43, 43, they are also punched to form a hole 44 which shears through the lug, cutting out and obliterating the inner end part of the lug and leaving the other end part of said lug 45 to form the additional rail abutting shoulder, which is spaced at the desired distance from the main rail abutting shoulder, and is adapted to engage the gage-side of the rail base, as indicated in Fig. 17.

Instead of providing one of such lugs I mav prefer to use two or more, which will be formed in the same manner as that heretofore described in the case of one. In Fig. 18 I have shown a tie-plate 46 in which two such lugs 45, 45 are provided, the punching operation in this case punching out said lugs so that each will present an upright shoulder, said shoulders being in a line which extends parallel to the main rail abutting shoulder 44 on the opposite side of the plate. The tie-plate shown in Fig. 18 is of the kind illustrated in Figs. 15 to 17, with the grooves in the top surface of the tie-plate running transversely of the plate and extending parallel to the main rail abutting shoulder.

In Fig. 19 I have shown a tie-plate 47 of the type illustrated in Figs. 10 to 13, with the grooves and ribs running in the direc tion of the length of the tie-plate and at right angles to the main rail abutting shoulder 47, that is to say, transversely of the rail. In this case the tie-plate is provided with two lugs 48, 48.

Apparently any number of lugs may be provided, as desired, the gage distances between the main rail abutting shoulder and the rail abutting shoulder presented by the lugs being determined, as required, in the operation of punching the lugs.

I claim as my invention:

The process of manufacturing a tie-plate having a rail abutting shoulder on each side of the rail seat, said process consisting in rolling a billet of metal into a continuous strip constituting a succession of tie-plate blanks, each tie-plate blank having on its top surface near one end a raised rib extending transversely of the blank and providing a main rail-abutting shoulder and each tieplate blank having on its top surface a raised lug or lugs over against and spaced from said main rail abutting shoulder, and then punching out each tie-plate blank at said lug or lugs to remove the end part or parts of said lug or lugs nearer to the main rail abutting shoulder so as to out it or them in a plane to form a second rail abutting shoulder spaced at a predetermined distance from the main rail abutting shoulder.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this 22nd day of March A. D. 1913.

EDWIN H. BELL.

Witnesses:

GEO. R. WILKINS, KARL W. DOLL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0." 

